


beautiful things don't ask for attention

by doubtthestars



Category: Football RPF, Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Gen, gerwnt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-23
Updated: 2015-06-23
Packaged: 2018-04-05 14:34:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4183488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doubtthestars/pseuds/doubtthestars
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>making wishes is almost a tradition.</p><p>For whatever we lose<br/>(a you or a me)<br/>it’s always ourselves<br/>we find in the sea.<br/>- E.E. Cummings</p>
            </blockquote>





	beautiful things don't ask for attention

**Author's Note:**

> I'm stupidly attached to Anja Mittag and Lena Goessling's friendship. It's schweinski-level shit. [hides behind hands]

"Don't look back," Lena's weight makes the bed bounce underneath her legs and her warm hands cover Anja's eyesight with dark orange light peeking through the crevices of skin. The breath that hits her cheek is slightly sour and fruity. She blinks enough times for Lena to giggle at the sensation. 

"Have you been drinking?" The hands remove themselves to hang onto her shoulders. "That's not the right question. You're supposed to ask if it's Lena." Anja twists her body to stare at Lena.

"Of course it's you. Where did you get the wine? We're not of drinking age." The younger girl leans back with a mischievous grin. 

"How do you know the drinking age in Thailand?" Anja sighs, patting down her frizzy hair with a hand. "I heard the coaches talking about it. Ironically, it would've been better if they hosted the under twenty tournament here." The midfielder purses her lips. 

"Don't I look twenty?" She bats her eyelashes. Anja rolls her eyes. She takes in her dark hair, sticking slightly to her cheeks, still too round and flushed from the drink and heat. Her bright eyes lined with black that smeared as the day went on. Anja shook her head because whoever thought Lena was older than eighteen wasn't paying attention.

"No," She flopped onto her back, her shirt rising a little. Lena crawled beside her on her front, careful to not jostle her off the edge of the bed. 

"We were just celebrating. No one _asked_ for the rice wine. Why didn't you come out with us?"

Her voice sounded funny as she pressed her ear to the bed, looking at the curve of Anja's neck. Rooming with Anja was a lot simpler than other girls. She didn't have a fussy routine in the mornings and she never looked bored when Lena started rambling with the excitement of her first major tournament. 

"I don't drink. I took a nap instead. Did Celia go with you?" Anja's face tightened with worry for their younger friend. They all had a reason to celebrate with the first match going so well, and all three of them scoring goals, along with Simone. Silvia would murder them with their own training equipment if anything happened to Celia, even in the name of a little festivity.

"No, we're not irresponsible. You really don't like drinking? Not even a little?" She props her head up with her arms. Anja laughs, her piercing flashing and motions with a finger on her own face. "You have an eyelash here." Lena leans closer. 

"Get it," Anja hesitates, uncertain at touching Lena, but she shakes it off as a silly fear. Her finger is light, barely brushing Lena's cheek. The lash is still on her finger, dark on the whorls of her pale skin. Lena wraps a hand around her wrist. 

"Make a wish." Anja closes her eyes and blows, feels Lena's breath on her finger. She doesn't know who gets it, but doesn't mind sharing a wish with Lena.

*

"Lena?" Her phone had been ringing non-stop since their coach's decision but she had ignored it until Lena's name came up for the fifth time. 

"Tell me about Sweden." Lena's voice is low and slightly watery. Anja rubs at her eyes, hearing Lena wasn't going to help. All she could think about was missing the World Cup hosted in her own country. Lena had finally made it to another tournament and she wasn't going to be there to share it with her. They wouldn't be able to share a room. 

"Congratulations," she starts, forcing herself to not sound as terrible as she felt. 

"No, we're not talking about that right now. Tell me about Sweden." Lena cuts her off with all her usual brusqueness focused on taking her mind off of not being called up. 

"I can't, Lena." Weak, all of the mistakes she had made came back. A weak performance echoed in her head. Anja had turned twenty-six on a miserable year of setbacks, of not knowing where and what she was going to do. Potsdam had become chafing. The champions league last year, the league champions for the last two years. Trophies and medals didn't make her feel any better about herself.

Lena made a noise over the line, angry or sympathetic Anja couldn't tell. 

"Close your eyes. It's the last game of the group stage against the hosts in Engelholm." She narrates the story Anja has told her more than once, winning in Sweden, the start of her journey. Anja takes in a deep breath, squeezing her eyes shut.

" _Ängelholm_ , city of ice cream and surfers, ten days before my 17th birthday, I score the winning goal. It's late, and Sweden doesn't want to leave at the start of the tournament. It's tiring the last half, I'm sweating but I'm happy. The air is cold and my lungs hurt but I can't stop smiling. I want to jump around. The stands are so empty compared to now. Silvia told me no one would forget my name now, especially the Swedes." Anja opened her eyes, tired of recollection.

"No one's forgotten you. I know you haven't been answering your phone but at least three people have been trying to remind you of that. I love you, Schmittag and so does everyone else. Lira is going to break down your door if you don't answer her." She chokes down a laugh, absolutely sure it wasn't an idle threat from Lira. Anja can almost hear Lena's smile. 

"I miss you." Lena had always known what to say and what to do when she felt down but every time they met, it seemed more and more difficult for her to find her footing around Lena, who was finally getting noticed as a player. 

"Anja, this isn't the end. You just have to find your Sweden again. There will be other tournaments for us." An idea starts to form. 

Five months later, Anja signed with Malmö and started the new year in Sweden to find herself. Top scorer and striker of the year wasn't too shabby, but the Algarve Cup with Lena, scoring the opening goal against Iceland and winning it all right before Lena's birthday was the best thing to confirm her love of the game.

*

She had known Nadine from when she had signed to Potsdam. The difference now was her involvement with Lena in Wolfsburg, which was completely normal, both being signed as midfielders around the same time. It was mostly not being roommates with Lena that got under her skin. 

"I'd be insulted at your sour face but I know it's just your 'I miss Lena' moping." Celia dropped her bag onto her bed and fell across it with a gusty sigh. 

"It's okay, I miss Marko, which is way too sappy to count. We're getting married and we've been living in each other's pockets for months with the preparations. Yet I do actually miss him." Celia mused, kicking her legs up in the air rhythmically. Anja smoothed out the bedspread idly.

"That's not the same." She loved Celia like a younger sister but she was completely wrong about her situation.

It's not _not_ the same." The forward replied with a shrug. Anja didn't try to figure out what that meant, ignoring Celia in favor of rummaging through her suitcase. "Seriously, I bet Lena is gonna show up any minute now and ask you to lunch." She smirked like it was a joke. Anja glanced back annoyed. She checked her watch reflexively.

"It's early for lunch." The knock on the door makes Celia grin. She gets up to open it before Anja thinks to stand.

"Hey Lena, looking for Anja?" Celia sounds entirely too smug but Lena doesn't react beyond stepping into the room, used to Celia' antics. Anja gets off her knees and away from her luggage feeling awkward with Celia's teasing words still hanging in the air. Lena had been her friend for nine solid years and so had Celia for that matter but Lena wasn't a pseudo-sister to her. 

She was just Lena, incredibly blunt and sweet, nothing like Anja. She rounded out Lira's bounciness and Anja's relaxed attitude. Lena fit in seamlessly in the team whether it was with the kids or the older group. She was an amazing asset to the team and Anja had always believed in her. 

"Hey, your hair is blonder." Celia snickered. Anja raised an eyebrow. 

"What?" Lena shook her head, muttering something. "It looks blonder in the sunlight than on the plane. Want to go eat?" Celia threw up a thumbs up behind Lena. 

"Kessi isn't hungry?" Celia's eyes went wide and she turned her thumbs up to a thumbs down. Anja looked straight at Lena instead of paying attention to the covert signs. Lena wrinkled her brow in confusion. "I don't know, I didn't ask? Besides you know enough Swedish to give me a tour right?" She smiled. Anja couldn't help but smile back. 

"We might still get lost." Lena took her arm in hers. 

"That's okay, we'll be together and I'm sure somebody could point Anja Mittag, Swedish champion, back to the hotel." Celia snorts at her phone screen and waves them to the door before they ask her to third wheel.

"I'm gonna call Marko before he inevitably starts crying from loneliness." Her phone already up to her ear. Lira's voice for once wasn't at maximum volume as she picked up. "Anja and Lena at it again?" Celia turned to see them absorbed in whatever conversation they were having. 

"It's almost painful."

The final against Norway ended with Celia assisting Anja's winning goal. Lena didn't let go of Anja for a second during the celebrations. 

*

The Algarve Cup always fell around Lena's birthday and Anja tended to associate the sunny days by the beach with the occasion. For the first match, three days before the eighth, Lena curls a ball into Iceland's net during the second half and runs to the bench where Anja is resting in place of Maro. The fourth goalscorer of the game ends up in her arms and Anja realizes something much too heavy to simply solve.

Their second match fell the day before Lena's birthday and Anja luckily enough got a goal to commemorate the day. 

"Lena," She shakes her shoulder to wake her from the nap she took after her shower. Lena rolls to her other side making a protesting noise but not opening her eyes. "Come on, get up." Anja tries her shoulder again. Lena groans but finally responds,

"What?" She grumbles. Anja tries not to smile at her disgruntlement. "It's dinner, and a surprise." Her hair is in a bit of a disarray but she sits up at the words surprise and stretches out her arms from the covers. Anja liked it to be arctic cold in the room which suited Lena's burrowing-under-a-mountain-of-blankets lifestyle. The room hadn't come with an extra blanket so Lena had slept with an additional layer of a sweatshirt.

She had considered asking Anja to share a bed and double up the covers but had decided against it for the sake of their friendship and her feelings.

Mel had told her several times a year to say something to Anja before the tension became worse. Lena knew words were the only resort she had, but she still hesitated. Last year had marked a change in Anja, with football and herself. She had found the spark again. 

Lena had been completely, embarrassingly taken by it and proud of her friend for getting through that tough time. 

"Lena," Anja called her back from her thoughts. "Where did you go?" Her grey eyes were filled with amusement. 

"I was wondering what the surprise would be?" She tried to wheedle it out of Anja with sugary sweet voice. Anja shook her bunned head and threw on her team jacket over the tanktop she was wearing. "Dinner first." Lena hadn't heard a better reason to get through dinner in a haste since birthday cake when she was eight.

Anja had taken an insufferable amount of time talking to Maro at the buffet. Lena had practically gotten stares from everybody for fidgeting in her seat. Lira finally took pity on her and handed Anja a knapsack with a wink that got her out of her seat with goodbyes to everyone else. It had already turned dark by the time the team had ordered dessert but Anja knew her plan well enough.

Finding an unoccupied part of the beach was easier than she expected. 

"What are we doing here?" Lena took a seat on the blanket Anja had placed on the sand. She took off her shoes to dig her toes in the cool sand. Anja had a suspiciously clanging bag left. 

"We're celebrating your birthday." She replied like it was obvious. Lena took the proffered beer bottle from her hand. "Twenty eight isn't much of a number to celebrate." Anja grabs her other hand and Lena almost loses her balance but recovers quickly, setting the bottle down in the sand to keep it upright. 

"Close your eyes." Lena bites her lip but does as she's told and feels Anja's hand fiddle with something around her wrist, pulling it snug against her skin. "Make a wish, Lena." She almost says it out loud for Anja to hear, _be happy, Anja, be happy with me._ , she stares at the forward when she's done with all the naked want of her wish. Anja's hand is still around her wrist, warm against her pulse. 

"It's a, um, wishing bracelet." Anja moves the single black cord a little with her finger for Lena to see the tiny star charm better. "It's supposed to fall off when the wish comes true. I thought you would like it." Lena impulsively kisses her cheek. 

"I love it. Thank you." She doesn't move away from Anja, but Anja clears her throat and looks away embarrassed. "Happy birthday, I couldn't bring any sort of candle or cake because the other girls want to do it tomorrow." She opens both of their beers to toast.

"To almost ten years of friendship." Lena clinks her bottle against Anja's and repeats the phrase with a warm feeling in her chest. 

They end up laying on the blanket, looking up at the stars and talking about whatever came to mind, stories and laughs tripping off their tongues. Lena had half of Anja's beer along with her own and felt like sleeping right on the beach next to her best friend. 

Anja turned to her side, shoulder against a hard mound of sand. "I'm thinking of going to France, playing for PSG." She tucked her hand under her head. Lena shimmied closer, their eyes connecting. 

"You'd be closer. Lira already trying to seduce you to her side?" Anja laughs freely. "No, the ink has barely dried on her contract, but I've been thinking it's time to leave, get another start. My contract ends soon. I'm not getting any younger." Lena brushed back a strand of her hair. 

"Leaving Sweden is a big deal." Anja smiled.

"I've got Sweden right here." She pointed at her heart. "I'm not looking back, just looking forward to the future. I've still got a year to think about it." A silence falls over them, comfortable with only the waves as background noise. Lena closes her eyes and breathes in the salt of the air. 

Anja pecks the corner of her mouth, the brush of her lips as soft as a butterfly landing. "Thanks," Lena's pounding heart is caught in her throat but she manages to ask, "For what?" 

"For being here all this time." Lena licks her lips, not sure what to do, still staring at Anja. 

"We should get back before they send out a search for us." They got up to shake out the blanket together. Lena felt the bracelet slip off her wrist, managing to catch it before it landed in the sand. Anja folded the blanket back into the drawstring bag.

"The knot must have been too loose." Anja remarked. Lena held the bracelet in her palm. "Do you think I get a new wish?" She put it in her pocket to keep it safe. They walked hand in hand away from the beach. 

"Greedy for more wishes?" Anja teases as she drops their bottles into a recycling bin. Lena darts in before she loses the courage, pressing her lips to the slightly shorter woman's own. Anja doesn't let her go far, cupping a hand against the back of her neck and kissing her back softly. 

They break apart with Lena's cheeks flushed. "Not anymore. I don't need more wishes."

**Author's Note:**

> this is probably terrible. I've been fighting my muse to FINALLY write something for this team. next one will probably be better. I'm still getting a feel for them.
> 
> title comes from The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and it resonated with me so much I had to use it somehow. It's a surprisingly good movie. I recommend it. 
> 
> I tried my best to find the match reports for the games mentioned but the Algarve Cup was especially hard to figure out beyond this goal at this time.


End file.
